Illingburn Fort.

The light of the setting sun shone down upon the city, basking it in a bright red glow. The setting sun and the sparse figures standing atop the city wall painted a scene that was quite picturesque, albeit a little lonely and depressing. The shadows of the mountains were cast onto the city walls and buildings in the city, and half of the wide path at the center of the courtyard had also been cast under shadows. It was as if these buildings had become just like the mountains around them, quietly listening to the passage of time and watching as people came and went in a detached manner, completely disinterested in the state and affairs of the world.

On the walkway leading to the royal barracks, two royal cavaliers were chatting with one another as they strolled along side by side.

"Was that woman that we saw just now Mistress Faye?"

"It was. Why do you ask?"

"Hold on, isn't she supposed to be quite old? Looks like she must have some type of spell that allows her to maintain a youthful appearance," one of the cavaliers said as a lustful smile appeared on his face.

"That must be it. Yesterday, when I saw her standing together with Prince Lazaar's daughter, they looked like a pair of sisters. Come to think of it, at her age, it wouldn't be unfitting even if she were the mother of Prince Lazaar's daughter."

"Ha, how do you know she isn't the mother of Prince Lazaar's daughter?"

"Shush! If Prince Lazaar's soldiers overhear you spouting nonsense like that, you're going to be skinned alive!"

"You worry too much. With His Majesty here, there's no way Prince Lazaar's soldiers would dare to do anything to royal cavaliers like us."

Standing atop a cylindrical watchtower not far away was a woman, who was listening to their slanderous conversation with a cold expression, and there was a derisive sneer playing on her lips. The gentle night breeze blew through her slightly graying hair, while the light of the dying sun shone down upon the smooth skin of her face. All the while, she continued to look into the distance, seemingly in deep thought.

Right at this moment, Professor Hawk came rushing up to the top of the city wall, and he was rooted to the spot upon seeing this. His footsteps drew to an abrupt halt, and he stood a few meters away from the woman, staring blankly at her in silence.

"It's nice to see you again," the woman said without even turning around, and her gaze was still fixed on the mountains to the north.

"Likewise," Professor Hawk replied in a quiet voice. On this day, he wasn't wearing his usual round, gold-rim glasses, and he had also clearly taken some care in arranging his own head of graying hair. He stared at the woman's side profile as he heaved a faint sigh. "It's been a very long time since we last met, hasn't it? You're still looking exactly the same, while I've already become an unsightly old man."

"In my memory, you don't seem to have changed at all since our last meeting," the woman said as she turned to look at Professor Hawk with a smile. "Maybe the only difference is that you have a little less hair now."

"There's no need to throw jabs at me like that, Faye. I gave you a compliment, so you should respond in kind. We've known each other for decades, can't we be more civilized?" Professor Hawk said with a resigned smile.

"Indeed, I only realized now that you mention it. It's already been several decades since we first met," Mistress Faye sighed as a reminiscent look appeared in her eyes.

"I still recall the days we spent as students in Teedus Academy as if they happened just yesterday. We had so many good friends back then, but since then, many of us have grown apart, and there are quite a few who are no longer of this world," Professor Hawk also sighed as he thought back to his memories of the past.

"I'm not the same as you. I barely had any friends to begin with, so it hardly matters to me whether the people we studied with are dead or not," Faye said in an indifferent voice.

"That's true. Considering how immensely talented and stubborn you are, there are very few people who you would deem worthy to befriend."

"Are you mocking me?" Faye asked as she turned to look at Professor Hawk.

"Not at all, I'm just feeling a little inferior. When instructing my students, I'm often telling them to be more conscientious and dedicated, but compared with you, I'm severely lacking in those two qualities."

"Why do I feel like you're implying something here?" Faye asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"No, you're just overthinking things. Perhaps I'm beginning to ramble senselessly in my old age. During these past few years, I often find myself wondering if pursuing magic power is so important, after all. For magicians, is it a goal that's worth pursuing for one's entire life? In the past, I always felt like I should follow the same path as you, becoming an excellent magician and setting a glowing example as a role model. However, for some reason, I've been having doubts about whether the goal I set for myself was correct. These thoughts have been growing particularly persistent recently, when I saw that child use time and space magic. The more I see him, the more I can't help but doubt myself," Professor Hawk said.

Faye turned her gaze back to the horizon and was silent for a moment, then said, "Most magicians only have an insatiable urge to improve their magic, but their understanding of more advanced concepts such as matter, time, and space, are often far too superficial."

"You still remember that quote?" Professor Hawk asked as he turned to Faye with a surprised expression.

"Of course I do. She was one of the few people in this world who I admired. It's just that I don't condone her actions in getting married and birthing a child," Faye replied. "Speaking of her child, how is he? The magic that he's practicing right now is the same stuff that his mother left behind, right?"

Professor Hawk nodded in response. "How do I put this? Erwin is a little like her, but at the same time, he's completely unlike her."

"Don't try to get all philosophical and profound on me. All I know is that my prized student has completely fallen head over heels for him!" Mistress Faye grumbled in a displeased voice.

"It's not like your student is the only one. Isn't Master Piro's student in the same boat?" Professor Hawk chuckled with a slightly sly grin on his face.

"It's a good thing that he's no longer here. Otherwise, I would've taught him a good lesson on behalf of my student."

"We're too old to be getting involved in things like this. Just let the kids sort out their relationships on their own."

"You're his teacher, right? How about you accept this lesson on his behalf?" Faye asked as she turned to Professor Hawk with a teasing smile.

"Nononono, there's no way I'm agreeing to that. I'm no match for you," Professor Hawk hurriedly said with a wry smile.

"Honestly, you shouldn't have come here," Faye said as the smile on her face gradually faded. "Why couldn't you have made up an excuse to stay in the academy?"

Professor Hawk's heart jolted slightly upon hearing this, and it seemed to him that Mistress Faye was implying something to him.

However, he then quickly put on a smile as he said, "I may be no match for you, but don't forget that I'm a grand magic mentor. If I made up some excuse not to come here, I would be too embarrassed to continue teaching at the academy."

Faye merely smiled in response and offered no reply.

All of a sudden, Professor Hawk cast his gaze toward the nearby royal barracks. "What's going on over there? Why is there smoke rising up from that direction? Is there a fire?"

"It looks like it," Faye replied after taking a seemingly disinterested glance in the same direction. "It's quite a bad omen to see fire in the barracks on the eve of a battle."

"I have to go take a look," Professor Hawk said as he turned to depart. As he did so, he thought to himself, If I die in this war, at least I got to see her one last time.

...

On the coast of the Joffan Sea, roughly 100 kilometers northeast of Xeto.

The army of over 5,000 troops was traveling at full speed, sending clouds of dust rising up into the air. No one seemed to be interested in appreciating the beautiful sunset and the waves of the sea under the light of the dying sun.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Given how much time we have left, we'll definitely be able to make it," Erwin asked in a quiet voice as he approached Onean with a puzzled expression. "Look at all the royal cavaliers. All of them are looking in very bad shape. If we keep pushing them like this, they're going to collapse soon."

Erwin had felt like Onean had been acting a little strange these past couple of days. She always seemed to be uneasy, and even after the overwhelming victory they had secured over the Skycourt Kingdom's forces, she hadn't displayed any joy.

As opposed to answering Erwin's question, Onean raised a question of her own. "Where are those friends of yours? There seem to be two missing."

"You're talking about Larwood and Chase? One of them was forced to stay behind by his father, while the other one is too injured to continue marching with us. Things can be difficult in times of war," Erwin sighed.

"Larwood is Duke Nandoon's son, right?" Onean suddenly asked.

"That's right. Didn't you know that?" Given how well-read and intelligent Onean was, she had to be very familiar with the family trees of all of the important nobles and royals in Sarus. Hence, it was clear that she was asking a question that she already knew the answer to, and judging from her tightly furrowed brows, her mind was already elsewhere.

"If I recall correctly, Chase is Duke Renshaw's son, right?"

"That's correct as well." Erwin nodded in response. "What are you trying to say?"

Erwin was quite sharp as well, and he immediately developed an inkling of what Onean was implying, upon which he fell into deep thought with tightly furrowed brows.

"Don't you find all of this very strange? First, Duke Nandoon and Duke Shreesan depart from the front lines to rescue Xeto. Then after that, both Duke Nandoon and Duke Renshaw's sons decided not to come to the front lines with us."

Erwin fell silent upon hearing this. He could think of 1,000 ways to rebuke her, but he was always accustomed to considering the worst possible scenario in everything as that was the mindset that allowed him to be harmed the least in real life. As soon as the seed of suspicion was sowed in his mind, he felt as if he had fallen into a dark abyss, and he was continuing to free fall in an uncontrollable manner, looking on helplessly as the light above drew further and further away from him. He was like a spluttering fish out of water, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, but was unable to say anything.

Onean turned her gaze toward Erwin, who was bouncing up and down on the back of his steed like a wooden puppet.

"Do you understand why I'm in such a hurry now?" Onean asked in a grim voice.

"But what you said isn't concrete proof of anything. Perhaps the three Dukes are merely afraid of war and wish to avoid going to front lines. In addition to that, it only makes sense that they would want to keep their own children safe," Erwin countered, but even he knew that this explanation of his was very forced. He still recalled the analogy that his father had made, comparing the royals and nobles of Sarus to turtles that he had to be wary of, so their actions were certainly worthy of deep thought.

"That's the only explanation you could come up with after thinking for so long?" Onean asked with a hint of mockery in her voice.

"Let's focus on the journey at hand," Erwin replied with a grim expression.

However, the entire army suddenly drew to a halt right at this moment.

Erwin and Onean were leading the way from the front, and they were quite taken aback by the sight of the burned wooden bridge up ahead.

"Hold on, I know what happened here. On the day that we decimated the Skycourt Kingdom's troops, over 1,000 of them managed to escape. They must've burned this bridge because they were afraid of being pursued by us," Erwin said as an enlightened look appeared on his face.

"I completely forgot about that. Looks like I've had too much on my mind recently," Onean replied in a resigned manner.

Erwin immediately dismounted from his horse to examine the surrounding terrain. There was a wide mountain stream in the west, and it was flowing directly into the Joffan Sea in the east. The wooden bridge originally paved the way across the stream, connecting the two hills on either side of it, but the entire bridge had been burned and destroyed, and only the wooden pylons extending out of the water were still left unscathed.

Erwin raised his hand to cast a spell, only to be stopped by Onean.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to conjure up a bridge of ice. What else are we going to do? Our troops have to get across here somehow."

"Don't waste your magic power here. This is quite a big project, so get the magicians from your mercenary legion to complete it."

"Why?" Erwin asked with a curious expression.

"We're not going to be able to rest well for the next couple of days, so if you waste any magic power here, it won't be so easy for you to recover. Once we reach the front lines in Illingburn Fort, we'll have to face a lot of peril, so you'll need all the magic power you can get," Onean explained.

Erwin nodded in response. "You're right. I should've thought about this more carefully."

Thus, he arrived at the back of the army on horseback, where the Four Winds mercenary legion was trailing along behind the royal cavaliers. He then instructed Lanyon to take a few dozen magicians with him to construct a bridge of ice up ahead.

Meanwhile, the two dukes were chatting spiritedly with one another back in Xeto. If they knew that the Skycourt Kingdom's mercenaries had burned this bridge, they'd most likely be livid with rage. For them, it was imperative that Princess Onean be present during the upcoming final showdown on the front lines.